


Draw Back Your Bow, Cupid

by mouwwie



Category: Mean Girls - Richmond/Benjamin/Fey
Genre: Bad Matchmaking, Bisexual Cady Haron, Cady Heron is oblivious, Damian is a good friend, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, How Do I Tag, Jealousy, Lesbian Janis Sarkisian, Matchmaking, Really Bad Matchmaking, Regina is absolutely done, but somehow it works, trans damian hubbard
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-13
Updated: 2020-09-13
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:21:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,623
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26451772
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mouwwie/pseuds/mouwwie
Summary: Regina George is utterly done with this bullshit. She absolutely NEEDS to get Cady and Janis together. Might as well have some fun in the process.Or, Regina tries matchmaking, Janis is THIS close to losing her shit and Damian observes the disaster.
Relationships: Cady Heron/Janis Sarkisian
Comments: 4
Kudos: 30





	Draw Back Your Bow, Cupid

**Author's Note:**

> TW for anxiety attack (not graphic) and rape (not graphic, only memories)  
> The rape paragraph will be in bold so you could just skip over it  
> If there is anything else I should mark, please, tell me!

Regina George has suffered enough in this life.

Okay, fair, she was a bitch back then in high school, but it was so long ago that sometimes it was hard to tell if it ever happened. She spent the rest of the year (and also the whole gap year) on persuading The Golden Trio to trust her and ex-Plastics and even call them friends.

(Damian insisted on calling them The Golden Trio as a nerd he is.)

It was difficult, and Regina knew she deserved it. She was never really proud of things she’s done before society and a certain school bus literally knocked her out of her nest and forced her to change. But it was what it was - all of them ended up forming a small squad, which made her, for the first time in her life, actually feel content. Until the college struck.

Karen and Gretchen slightly separated from the group, pursuing their relationship and some fancy university in Paris. It kind of made things sad but, despite this fact, Regina was proud of them both - for finding peace and independence.

Damian chose a different college from his girls (mostly because he was literally the only guy in their group and finding more boys in his circles would be nice).

So that’s how Cady, Janis and Regina decided to share an apartment.

Most of the time, Regina didn’t mind. She even liked hanging out with them… separately. Together was okay too, except it wasn’t.

Right now they were watching “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” together, and Regina had never ever third-wheeled more in her life.

Cady and Janis snuggled on the couch, Cady’s head on Janis's shoulder, and their limbs were tangled so tightly that Regina had trouble understanding how they were going to stand up. They were engaged in a heated discussion, which mostly consisted of loud whispers and eye-rolling. Regina just tried to concentrate on the movie.

“Hermione should have stayed with Victor,” Cady said, sighing lightly against Janis’s collarbone. Regina made an effort not to roll her eyes, seeing how Janis’s body tensed right after that.

“Nah, Victor was far from good.”

“But he was so gentle and respectful,” Cady frowned.

“That’s just plain weird,” Janis snorted, “the dude was eighteen, and Granger was what? Fifteen? Younger?”

“Better than Ron anyway,” Regina pointed out, and suddenly both girls remembered she was there.

Regina George wanted to scream.

“Seconded,” Janis said.

“I always thought she would end up with Harry,” Cady confessed.

“Me too.”

“I always preferred her single,” Janis said and locked eyes with Regina. She knew that Janis always preferred Emma Watson, in more ways than one.

Cady lifted her eyes again to see Janis’s face, while Janis raised her eyebrows, looking back at her. This weird telepathic conversation continued for a while, slowly transforming into eye-sex. Regina cleared her throat, and the spell was broken. Both girls seemed obviously flustered, avoiding each other’s gases.

“That’s it,” Regina groaned, and Cady glanced at her, confused.

“What?” she asked, but Regina didn’t reply, too busy with desperate attempts to keep herself together.

She absolutely has to force these two into admitting their feelings.

\---

“That's a terrible idea,” said Damian, while Regina fell back on the couch, trying not to laugh maniacally. Both Cady and Janis were gone, too busy with their art bullshit, so Regina had time on her own.

"I think I'm brilliant."

"Who would've thought," Damian snorted.

"Shut up," Regina rolled her eyes and had an impulse to throw a pillow into him but as soon as she remembered it was a Facetime call, sadness spiked in her stomach.

"Seriously, why do you even think it will work?" he asked. "Like, I'm pretty sure Cady has no idea what flirt is."

"That's the point," Regina said. "Janis would get the hint immediately and awkwardly reject me or something. Cady is just oblivious enough for Janis to reach the breaking point."

Damian gasped, hit with realization.

"Janis will _obliterate_ you."

Regina shrugged, ignoring the sting of fear.

"Eh, it's a noble sacrifice for the greater good."

Regina almost wasn't joking. Literally everyone, who at least had an abstract idea about who Cady and Janis were, begged for them to get together. Okay, that might be an exaggeration. But it didn't mean it was wrong.

Even Aaron agreed.

"It's really weird to see your ex pining over her best friend," he said one day, pinching the bridge of his nose, "but it's even weirder to see her best friend pine back and do literally nothing about it."

Damian had pretty much a similar opinion.

"Okay, fair," he said, "these two are my best friends but, I swear to God, they are the most annoying little shits to walk the Earth."

"Ah, the affection in your words," Regina responded dryly.

"Shut up."

Regina glanced at the clock briefly and pursed her lips. According to her experience, Cady and Janis should break into the apartment in around five minutes. She reluctantly stood up to open the door.

"I'll start tomorrow. Now you better get back to work, you theater nerd."

Damian made an incoherent sound of disapproval but complied, getting ready to quit the call.

"Oh, one last thing," he quickly said, before hanging up.

Regina glanced at him, mildly curious.

"If one day," he dramatically announced, "police shows up in my house because Janis slaughtered you and fed your body to the band kinds, this conversation never happened."

"Deal."

\---

Regina decided to start slow.

Of course, if you ask anyone, she was the opposite of starting slowly. But if she started the whole thing on full speed, it would get suspicious rather quickly. So instead she suggested going out with Cady and Janis. Together.

Janis was mildly surprised.

"Holy shit, are you actually suggesting to hang out first?" she widened her eyes. "How high are you?"

"Janis, stop," Cady tried to calm her, shooting worried glances at Regina. "She's just being nice."

Regina crossed her arms, glaring at them.

"I mean," she said, "we haven't been out for a while. Like, decently out, not getting takeaway from the pizzeria across the street."

Janis huffed but nodded.

"Yeah, maybe we could go somewhere."

"Only one thing, we're not getting blackout drunk," Regina claimed, ignoring Janis's protests, "not today."

Cady interrupted, being absolutely done with them both.

"Can we just go to a coffee shop or something?"

Regina shrugged.

"Seems fair."

Janis raised her brows, taken aback by suddenly compliant Regina, but decided to roll with it.

"Okay," she said.

Regina smiled mischievously. Regina The Matchmaker is starting her mission.

Janis wouldn't stop staring at her until they arrived. Regina stared back.

"Something's wrong?" she asked.

Janis shook her head, still sending her quick glances.

"No," she replied, "just… you usually prefer to stay home."

Surprisingly to herself, Regina discovered that she was quite introverted and all the energy she wasted being a Plastic now paid her back. Or maybe it's just college, who knows. Anyway, Regina did enjoy staying alone, Cady and Janis respected that. However, it didn't mean that Regina wasn't with them everytime they decided to do something exciting.

It just meant it took a week to convince her.

"Well, I'm an introvert, not a hermit."

"You're not a hermit, you just like playing hard-to-get," Janis snorted.

"Shut up."

One long playful banter later they approached the coffeeshop. It was pretty early in the day, so it was almost empty, bored barista playing on his phone and sending glances to the lively street from time to time. When three of them collapsed inside, engaged in a heated debate about flaws of contemporary society, he put his phone down, unimpressed, and got ready for their orders.

"I'll have a cappuccino," Regina quickly glanced at the menu.

Janis smirked.

"Plain black, please."

Regina actually gasped, dramatically swinging to Janis's side.

"Monster."

"Pussy."

"I'll just have hot chocolate," Cady sighed, looking away on the street, where people hurried away, not even bothering to look at the coffee shop's sign.

Janis said nothing, placing herself on the counter. Her eyes were sparkling softly, as she looked at Cady with a smile.

"What, not even gonna call her pussy too?" Regina said.

"Nah, she's allowed to be a softie."

"Picking favourites, huh?" Regina mumbled, quickly silencing herself as soon as Janis glared at her, ready to murder.

Barista was just trying to do his job.

As soon as their drinks were ready, girls went for their wallets.

"I'll pay," Regina said quickly.

Cady shot her a surprised glance.

"You don't have to," she began, but Regina quickly interrupted.

"Just... just let me pay."

Regina pursed her lips and made the purchase, professionally avoiding others' gazes. She captured her drink and chose the closest table, ignoring Janis's questioning looks.

"So," she started, "how is your project doing?"

Janis opened her mouth to speak, but Cady already started babbling.

"Oh, we went to this art supply shop because I needed some materials for my piece, and there was this guy who was all weird and panicky. And I thought he was just anxious but he was totally okay with Janis and I thought it was weird," she started explaining.

Regina glanced at Janis and saw her shoulders going tense. This was taking a good turn for Regina.

"Sounds like he was into you," Regina pointed.

"I know," Cady rolled her eyes, "I'm not that oblivious."

Regina almost immediately snorted.

"I just don't understand why."

Regina tilted her head like a bird, at first not understanding where she's going. But then it clicked.

"So you're thinking there is nothing in you to be into?" Regina said slowly. "You're shitting me. You're literally thirsted over by at least two boys and three girls on the campus. And that's just what I saw."

Janis clenched her jaw, obviously not liking where it's going. Regina fought down a wicked grin.

"But why?" Cady frowned.

Regina rolled her eyes so dramatically that she actually thought they would get stuck.

"You're hot, Cady," Regina said, giving her a smirk. "Like, flaming hot, I tell you."

"I think you are too," Janis blurted out, awkwardly shifting. "Hot, I mean."

Pink blush quickly spread over Cady's cheeks, and she smiled hesitantly.

"Er, thanks, Janis."

Janis promptly averted her eyes, hiding the identical blush that slid all over her face. Regina silently congratulated herself.

The first step is taken.

\---

"You achieved more than I expected," Damian said.

"Thanks for believing in me."

"No, seriously," he laughed, "if you keep it this good, Janis will explode by the end of the week."

Regina groaned and fell back on her many pillows, staring outside of the window. The sky was pitch black already, and the first stars started to appear through the city light noise.

"Too long."

Damian awkwardly shifted on his bed, absently touching his shoulder, and Regina was immediately back up again, squinting at him.

"You took off your binder, right?" she slowly asked, her face more and more threatening as she spoke.

"No?"

Regina almost hissed.

"Damian Hubbard, I will actually travel all across the city to your college to punch you in the face," she said, frowning. "You know what it does to your ribs, right?"

"I know," he said, "but dysphoria is kicking my ass lately."

Regina pursed her lips.

"You know I could pay for your top surgery."

"And you know I said no many times," Damian rolled his eyes with a small smile, and Regina looked away.

Damian sighed and looked at her with a soft, almost tender face.

"We forgave you years ago, Regina," he said, and his eyes were completely honest, "you don't have to prove your good intentions with money. You never had to."

Regina refused to look at him, tears prickling in her eyes. She composed herself rather quickly.

"I'll tell you how it went tomorrow too. And take off your binder."

Regina exhaled and forced a smile.

"Good night."

Not letting him say anything at all, she quickly quit the call and hugged her shoulders, trying to get away from the demons inside her head.

It's fine. She could handle it.

\---

As tomorrow came, Regina woke up with a headache and a handful of doubts.

What was her plan again?

She sighed and proceeded to complete her morning routine - yeah, she tended to get lazy sometimes but keeping things consistent helped her look like a hottie and have a room for daydreaming simultaneously. As Regina was brushing her teeth furiously, she was trying to remember if they had any plans today. The answer came earlier than she expected - someone started banging on her door.

"Regina!" Janis shouted. "You promised Cady to help with shopping today! Get your ass in gear!"

Regina raised her head from the sink.

"Make this whole town disappear," she mumbled, following the song.

"What?"

"Nothing," she yelled, taking make up in her hands.

Finally, the easiest part of the day.

As she was finishing with her lipstick, she heard banging sounds again.

"Are you going or not?" Janis shouted. "If you're not here in a minute, I'm stealing your car!"

"You're stealing my car, I'm stealing your kneecaps," Regina replied, quickly throwing the rest of her stuff in the purse. "I'm coming!"

By the time she was downstairs, Janis was already wearing her certified "I'm judging you silently" face. Cady approached her, hugging her shoulders tightly.

"Looking good today, Regina," she smiled.

Regina glanced at Janis and decided to start right away.

"You're not bad yourself, sweetie," she winked, making Cady slightly blush, and Janis huffed, heading outside.

Regina hurried right after her, quickly taking the car keys.

No one is driving her car, while she's alive and walking. No one.

The drive was silent, not awkwardly silent, thankfully, it's just Regina was observing the road, Cady was staring out of the window, and Janis was staring at Cady. There was nothing above normal, and the thick tension present wasn't any different from the times they hung out together, so Regina could manage. The thought of getting them together fueled her determination, and Regina fought down an excited smirk.

The mall was enormous. Of course, they've been here before, but it didn't change the fact that the amount of space in this place was absolutely unnecessary. Regina ultimately said that she gets a coffee first, and only then they start their shopping trip.

"So," Regina comfortably placed herself on the couch, lazily glancing at bypassing people, "what exactly do you need?"

Cady exchanged looks with Janis, who already looked like she was tortured. Well, she always disliked shopping.

"You know how we have this big art project in a few weeks?" Cady asked, and Regina nodded. "We both need dresses for presentation because Janis doesn't have any dresses at all, and I don't have a formal type of dress."

Regina squinted, remembering the shops in this mall.

"I think I know where we could start."

And that's how they ended up in a ridiculously expensive shop on the ridiculously expensive couch, waiting for Cady to change. Again. For Janis it was quite easy, as she wasn't that picky and took the first black dress they found. Cady, on the other hand, decided to try on just about every dress in the shop, and considering Regina's deadly gaze, everything that didn't fit perfectly wasn't an option.

Finally, the curtain swinged to the side, and Cady stepped out. This dress fit her perfectly: soft ochreous fabric hugged her upper body just the way it should, hunting at her curvy parts but keeping it appropriate, the skirt gently slid down her hips and to her knees, forming a wavy line. Cady's cheeks were a bit flushed, probably from changing many times, and she looked sheepish, almost like a high school freshman on her first school dance. Janis's mouth hung open.

"Cady, you look…" she looked dazzled, almost knocked out, and a longing, painfully tender expression slid on her face. For the first time Regina actually questioned if she's doing the right thing.

Regina silently apologized to her before whistling loudly, scaring the shit out of the cashier.

"Damn, Cady," she chuckled, looking at her darkly, "if you wore this dress when me met, I'd bang you myself."

Janis turned around, bewildered, her eyebrows launched together, forming a deep dangerous frown. Cady reddened, hiding her face in her palms.

"Oh my god, Regina," she groaned, but Regina quickly stood up.

"My verdict - this one. No negotiation," she claimed and turned to Cady. "How much?"

Cady checked the price, and her smile faltered.

"Too much," she sighed.

Regina violently shook her head.

"I'm adding," she said, "you have to buy this one."

Cady opened her mouth to protest, but Regina glanced at her, warning.

"You'll pay back later if it bothers you that much."

Regina knew damn well she won't let Cady pay back.

"Let's just go home already," Janis sighed, her mood obviously down.

Regina pursed her lips. "It's for her own happiness, right?" she reminded herself silently, paying for the dress.

Cady kept looking at Janis, concerned, but when they left the tension seemed to vanish.

Except Janis looked bitter for the rest of the trip.

Right before they planned to go back home, Regina's phone rang. Usually she didn't answer messages until she was alone. But this time was different, because Janis continued her sickeningly longing looks, so Regina was glad to distract herself.

At first she thought that Damien sent another obscure meme that he found on Twitter. But, in fact, the message was from Aaron.

Aaron: Hey, I was thinking about throwing a party. Do you think you three could make it?

Regina mentally groaned. Her party memories weren't really fond, the only things she could recall were terribly loud trashy pop songs, the smell of booze and someone's vomit and fratty boys who can't keep their hands to themselves. Disgusting.

However, a thought crossed her mind. She could, for example, ask Cady to be her plus one for the evening and arrange Janis with someone else. It required patience and probably will make Janis complain, but in the end they could achieve the result even earlier. Also, parties mean spin the bottle and other horny teenagers' excuses to devour each others' faces and do embarrassing shit. So, Regina guessed, she had to agree.

Regina: count us in, i'll make them show up

And she, in fact, did.

\---

“Cady!” Janis shouted, while Regina was fixing her makeup or, at least, pretended to do so. She was pretty much done, and the only thing that kept her is the unspoken rule of showing up late. The perfectionist part of her was howling in pain, but when did society make any sense?

“Coming!”

Cady ran down the stairs, and even Regina, an experienced warrior, let her brows go up, impressed, as she saw a pair of high heel shoes. Wow, the student overcame the teacher.

“Since when are you good with heels?” Janis chuckled softly, and an admiring haze once again showed up in her eyes.

“Regina taught me,” she smiled back, quickly approaching her friends. “Are we going?”

“Yep,” Regina checked her clock. Just the right amount of late. Thank fuck.

All three of them were in the car immediately, and Regina glanced at two of her lovebirds. Of course, here they were, exchanging soft looks, and for a moment a spike of loneliness hit Regina right in her stomach but she promptly swallowed it along with the fake gagging sound. They will be happy together soon. So she just sighed and started driving.

By the moment they arrived the party had already started, and Regina could hear the strong bass from the open windows. Aaron was there, tall and beaming, as usual, and he shortly waved them, as soon as three of them approached his house.

“I give you that, Regina,” he said, “I didn’t expect them to actually agree. I won’t even ask how you did that.”

“I got my methods.”

“They include doing all the chores in the house for a week,” Cady giggled.

“Shut up and let me enjoy my power.”

Aaron rolled his eyes and held the door, as Cady quickly sneaked in. Regina was ready to follow her, when she noticed the uncomfortable look in Janis’s eyes. She gave Aaron a signal and closed the door.

“You know, you don’t have to go,” Regina said softly, “I wouldn’t be mad.”

“It’s okay,” Janis shook her head, “I just… I don’t think I’ll be welcome there.”

Regina sighed and pulled her in a hug.

“Look,” she whispered, “you’re gorgeous and deserve to have fun.”

Then she let go and smirked mischievously.

“And if anyone tries to talk shit, I’ll personally drown them in the pool. Deal?”

Janis snorted and smiled at her, and Regina’s heart fluttered.

“Deal.”

Regina opened the door, inviting her in, and Janis complied. Right before she entered the darkness of the hall, she turned around.

“Thank you, Regina.”

Regina nodded and pulled them both into the blast of sound and light.

The room was shaking from the sheer loudness of music, young adults of both genders were mingling, drinking and making even more noise, and Regina huffed, sliding between sweaty glistening bodies, trying to find Cady among the faceless silhouettes of other people. She didn’t succeed, however, she suddenly noticed a room with actual lights on. That meant some kind of activity she usually preferred to avoid but not this time. With the look of pure determination, Regina caught Janis by the hand and practically dragged her in.

They both winced, getting used to the bright room, and Regina noticed Cady, already seemingly having fun. The circle, the laughing faces, the humming sounds of people whispering between each other?

Truth or dare. Exactly, what Regina wanted.

“You’re playing truth or dare?” she asked, and as soon as someone nodded, she sat down with everyone, forcing Janis next to her. “We’re joining then.”

Janis made a quiet uncomfortable sound but stayed down, so Regina guessed she was okay with whatever was about to happen. Aaron quickly greeted them.

“Regina,” his eyes twinkled, “truth or dare?”

She hummed, considering her options. She just sat down and was too lazy to stand back up again, but she had no idea what Aaron could ask. Still, she settled with truth.

“All right,” she smirked, “fire away your question, big boy.”

The circle gave her a distorted “ooooh”, and Regina rolled her eyes. It’s like she was back in high school again with little kids, waiting for her to spill her juicy secrets. Luckily, she almost didn’t have those, and those she had were impossible to uncover, unless you knew where to hit.

“Tell me your worst high school experience.”

Unfortunately, Aaron did a very good job guessing.

Regina’s whole body stiffened, and she let out a quiet breath. Janis took her hand, and for a solid second it was enough to soothe her, But it was too late, memories she repressed for so long came back, flooding, and Regina felt herself drowning in them.

**His firm grasp on her thighs, his shallow breathing, it was itching against her neck, the way there were no tears or screams. There was a ghost fist on her throat, and later on when she looked in the mirror after puking in the men's bathroom for full thirty minutes, she only saw herself, wrapped in pink.**

Pink. She hated this color.

“Hey, Regina, are you okay?”

Cady’s voice was full of concern, Regina slowly nodded and started to breathe again.

She decided to play by the rules. So she told the truth.

“Being a mean girl,” she rasped, her voice quiet and lifeless. “It was the worst thing you can imagine.”

The circle went silent, probably wondering why she would say such a thing. Regina shook her head, forcefully tossing away the trash of the past. She could always deal with this later. Not with several dozens eyes looking at her, judging her, examining her. So Regina took a deep breath and let herself go blissfully numb. Eyes on the prize.

She glanced around at Cady and a wicked, almost creepy smile induced on her face.

“Truth or dare, Cady?”

Cady shifted and made an uncertain sound. Regina was pretty sure she would pick the truth, the way she leizured by Aaron’s side, comfortably resting her head on his shoulder (obviously making Janis jealous) - there was no way she would choose anything else.

“Dare.”

Okay, it seems like Regina’s job just gets easier by the minute.

“I’ll just go with a classical one then,” Regina hummed. “Kiss whoever you want the most.”

The circle giggled, impatiently scanning Cady, who was blushing so furiously that her whole face was a pretty color of scarlet. Her gaze shot to Janis, who froze on her seat, looking like a deer in headlights. Cady seemed almost sure of her actions, when something snapped in her eyes and she quickly appeared next to Regina and kissed her.

Regina widened her eyes, not exactly kissing back, and panic spread through her body. That wasn’t how it was supposed to go.

Janis immediately shot up from her seat, eyes blazing, and left the room, letting her heels angrily click against the floor. Regina stood up, shooting an apologizing look to everyone and quickly followed, barely making it to put an arm on her shoulder.

However, Janis pulled away.

"What are you doing?" Janis hissed, and hurt flashed in her eyes.

"What does it look like?"

"Why are you courting her? All these compliments, all this show off, inviting her here, do you think I'm blind?"

Regina was taken aback by the amount of pain in Janis's voice. Her hair was all over the place and usually elegant lines of her make up were smothered and covered half of her face.

Suddenly, Janis's eyes widened. Regina noticed the silent realization flooding her eyes and swallowed harshly.

This was not good.

"You know I love her," she whispered. "You know I do and you still…"

Regina opened her mouth to speak, but Janis shook her head.

"I might have made a mistake trusting you."

The time had stopped, and suddenly the air was scattered around Regina's head. She gasped for it, opening her mouth like a fish on a shore, but it seemed like the world shrinked to this one moment where Janis turned her back, walking away.

Regina stepped back, vaguely feeling the way her whole body trembled like a loose leaf. Of course, what else did she expect? Reaching the goal blinded her, as always, when the only people who mattered right now were further than anyone ever was.

Because no matter where she went or what she did, this echo will always haunt her, like a deal with the devil.

Because no matter what she said to herself, there is no way she could ever be more than she was back in high school.

Because when she looked in the mirror she only saw pink.

She was the Mean Girl. She always has been.

Regina realized with effort that by this moment she was sobbing, gasping for air, and her whole body collapsed and curled up in a ball, feverishly trying to protect her from reality she has been rejecting for so long. Dimly, she thought it was probably an anxiety attack, but she was in no condition to help herself, and with desperation she clinged to consciousness that slipped away faster than tears on her cheeks.

Regina didn’t even register footsteps, until Aaron’s serious face hovered over her.

“Can I touch you?”

She violently nodded, hugging her knees. Aaron placed his palms over hers.

“What are five things that you can see?” he said softly.

“My knees,” she started, her voice barely functioning, “your face, the table, the door and the light from the doorway.”

He nodded.

“Four things you can hear?”

“Music, laughter,” she tried harder, “uh, cars, I think. And my voice.”

“Three things you can touch.”

“Me, the floor and your hands.”

“Two things you can smell.”

Regina sucked in the air and winced.

“Sweat. And your cologne.”

“And one thing you can taste.”

“Shitty booze.”

Aaron chuckled nervously but relaxed a bit.

“Glad to see Regina is back. Care to explain what happened?”

He helped her up, and they both sat down on some weird looking couch. Aaron looked at her softly, with no judgement, and probably that was the breaking point she needed. Words flooded her, and she told the whole story from the beginning, including the Harry Potter movie and the coffee shop and the dress and everything. He listened closely, and when she finally fell silent, he groaned.

“Seriously?”

“I know I’m stupid,” she huffed, but Aaron shook his head.

“You’re not. You’re just really bad at matchmaking.”

Regina glared at him, but mischievous sparkles glistened in his eyes.

“What a coincidence, I’m bad at matchmaking too.”

Regina snorted and turned her eyes away, letting them adjust to the dark. Aaron hummed and suddenly gasped, lightening up, as he had an idea.

“Maybe we have the last bad matchmaking cliche to try.”

Regina raised her eyebrows, already intrigued, and he smirked.

“Follow my lead.”

\---

“Regina, you’re back,” Cady smiled, “what happened to your make up?”

“It got ruined, so I got rid of it.”

Regina rehearsed the ask in her head before actually saying it out loud.

“I’m feeling kinda nauseous, could you grab some water in the kitchen for me, please?”

Cady blinked and frowned.

“Of course, I can. Are you okay?”

Regina shrugged.

“Yeah, maybe just overwhelmed a bit. I’ll be better soon.”

Cady hesitantly nodded and headed to the direction of the kitchen.

“Just call me if it gets worse.”

As soon as Cady’s back was swallowed by the dark, Regina texted Aaron.

Regina: on her way now

Aaron: Janis is there already

Regina moved swiftly to the kitchen as silently as she could, and she managed to get there the very moment Aaron shut the door and locked both of them in.

The game has started.

The door shook several times and then they heard Janis’s muffled voice.

“Locking me in? Real mature, guys.”

There was some shuffle, and Cady emerged.

“Janis?”

“Oh, come on!”

Apparently, Cady got a bit offended, and Regina heard her voice going a bit upset. She and Aaron exchanged looks.

“I didn’t know that being in the same room as me is that much of an inconvenience to you, Janis.”

Regina leaned into the door, forcing herself to listen carefully.

“It seems like you prefer Regina’s company anyway,” Janis sounded empty and bitter.

“You’re mad about the kiss?”

There was no response, and Aaron frowned.

“I’m sorry, Janis, I didn’t think you would be hurt,” Cady said, there was no venom in her voice, only sadness and something else, something way more intimate.

“Of course, why would you.”

There was another bit of silence.

“I wanted to make you jealous.” Cady now sounded defeated.

“What?”

“I saw you get jealous over Regina and I thought…” she sighed. “Nevermind.”

“Please, do continue.”

“I almost believed it meant something.”

Silence this time was a lot longer, and Regina almost thought they were already making out, but then Janis spoke again.

“You could have asked, dumbass,” Janis didn’t sound angry, only relieved and on the verge of laughter.

“Did it mean something, Janis?”

Regina and Aaron smiled at each other, as Janis replied.

“Yes.”

There was a quiet sound of footsteps and suddenly Cady and Janis were kissing. It wasn’t lewd and loud, just a quiet exchange of feelings, and while girls were preoccupied, Aaron slowly unlocked the door.

“Thank fuck.” Regina breathed out a sigh of relief and fell against the wall, as numbness left, leaving her hanging somewhere between the lines of calm and triumph.

When Janis left the room, holding Cady’s hand and mouthed “I’m sorry” and “thank you”, Regina found herself smiling, as her heart was hammering loudly against her ribs.

Mission accomplished.

\---

“You knew?” Janis yelled, throwing a pillow at Damian, who stood there, clenching his hand on the suitcase.

“I did, I thought it was gonna be fun!” he yelled back, protecting himself.

That didn’t stop Janis, as she chased him all across the living room. Cady watched them with amusement, her eyes glistening everytime her gaze landed on her girlfriend. Regina also watched them, giggling.

Regina George felt content.

There was one last thing to do, and Regina embraced herself, preparing for a long talk. She lied and hid too much, and these people, who were actively attempting to murder each other, were her friends. So she inhaled the air and spoke.

“I need to talk with all of you.”

Regina talked and talked, until there were no words and no air in her lungs, until all the painful memories of her high school were out, swirling and laughing, like ugly shadows. Regina was terrified of them, knowing what scars she had on her soul and body that will stay there forever, that she hasn't told anyone before. And she let them go, before she opens up on therapy, for the first time in her life.

And when all three of them were there, supporting her and holding her in their embrace, Regina George cried, as she didn’t in a long time. She felt loved. She felt supported.

And still, she wasn’t happy. She was hanging somewhere in the air, between feeling content and feeling appreciated, and she loved this place.

It wasn’t happiness yet. But it was a good place to start.


End file.
